


The Prisoner At The Bar

by sgamadison



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-14
Updated: 2012-04-14
Packaged: 2017-11-03 15:46:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/383144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgamadison/pseuds/sgamadison
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rodney didn't think John was going to be able to get him out of this one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Prisoner At The Bar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vida_boheme](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=vida_boheme).



> I thought it would have made more sense if Inquisition had gone something like this...

The sun was shining brightly as Rodney was escorted across the compound, mocking him in its cheerful promise of spring to come. A soft breeze ruffled his hair; the grass seemed to have come in overnight, a rich, verdant green dotted with tiny wildflowers. Rodney squinted into the sun. He felt as though bluebirds should be circling his head and Disney-like rabbits should be gamboling at his feet. He wondered what the men walking alongside of him would think if he should suddenly burst into a chorus of _Zippetidy-do-dah_.

Probably shoot him. He shuffled along in his shackles, trying not to groan out loud. The very ludicrous nature of his thoughts was just another measure of how bad things were looking for him right now.

He felt pathetically grateful at the sight of John and Teyla standing near the prisoner’s box when he entered the council chambers. He quickly scanned the crowd but there was no sign of Ronon, which made him uneasy. His guards marched him into the box and shut the gate, retreating to stand on either side.

“Hey, buddy,” John said, the way he did every morning. As though Rodney were strolling into the mess, late for breakfast. “They treating you all right?”

Rodney knew if he said ‘no’, John would take the place apart, to the detriment of them all. He tried to come up with a pithy comment about how being forced to sleep on a prison cot was the equivalent of cruel and unusual punishment, but the words wouldn’t come. When he realized that he’d hesitated a beat too long, he quickly snapped, “I’m being tried for crimes against humanity, Colonel. How do you think I’m being treated?” 

“We’ll get you out of this, Rodney,” John promised.

How many times had Rodney heard John make such a sweeping, blanket statement of confidence? How many times had John been right when it seemed like he was promising the moon? Not this time, Rodney thought, his guts twisting at the certainty that this time, John would be wrong.

Rodney started to say something else, until he noted how terrible John looked. He had bags under his eyes, he hadn’t shaved in days. Normally, Rodney found the scruffy-Colonel look unbearably hot on John, but today he looked so incredibly weary; as though the planes of his face had melted and the skin was starting to sag. For the first time (not counting the time Rodney had seen him Wraith-fed), John looked old. The concept of John aging smacked Rodney in the gut. He stared as John turned to watch the council members file in, and saw the fine webbing of lines around the corners of his eyes and the prominence of gray in his stubble.

John shot him a strange look when he turned back and found Rodney’s gaze locked on him. 

“Where’s Ronon?” Rodney blurted out, watching as John’s face darkened like a thundercloud.

“He’s not here.” John bit off the words tersely.

“Ronon has a plan,” Teyla said smoothly, shooting John a warning glance.

“That he didn’t discuss with _me_ ,” John began, before abruptly shutting up.

“Well, whatever he has up his…well, whatever he’s got planned,” Rodney amended, “he’d better hurry the hell up. I’m running out of time.”

The last council member took his seat and the court leader picked up a small brass bell, ringing it sharply.

“This court will come to order,” Councilman Keegan called out. The room, packed as it was with spectators, had been speaking quietly among themselves. Now they fell silent.

Teyla gave Rodney’s arm a brief squeeze before she and John were waved to their seats by the guards. The look on John’s face was one of sick regret, and Rodney realized that John didn’t think he could save Rodney this time.

The Pegasus council was comprised of fifteen men and women that represented a loosely aligned group of worlds that had formed a coalition, working towards the betterment of the galaxy. Their first official act had been to invite the Atlantis expedition to send their premiere team to meet with them in order to discuss how best to ensure the safety of the human populations in Pegasus. 

Apparently, they felt that the most important act was to try Rodney for war crimes.

It had been a shock when they’d arrived on the neutral planet of Markos, only to be detained by an armed guard and taken away for trial.

Rodney studied the council members seated at their high bench above him. A diverse collection of people, all dressed in the ceremonial garb of their worlds. Their faces were solemn; no one looked the least bit sympathetic. Rodney’s guts roiled loudly and he hoped to god he wasn’t going to be sick.

Keegan stood up. He was a well-muscled man of dark complexion, with a neatly trimmed that flattered his jaw. He reminded Rodney of the Spartan king in the movie 300, and this gave him a sinking feeling of foreboding. Things hadn’t gone well for him in his ‘trial’ so far and now they were rapidly coming to a close.

“Council members, people of Pegasus,” Keegan raised his voice to be heard in all parts of the large room. “You have been patient with us for the last three days as we’ve heard testimony about the crimes committed by Dr. Rodney McKay.”

Alleged crimes, Rodney wanted to say. Why the hell didn’t he have an advocate of some kind? A shyster lawyer would come in handy right now. His mind flew to Woolsey and he suddenly pictured Richard Woolsey in a suit, fussy and logical, defending Rodney with clever words and twisted meanings. A part of him rebelled at the thought of Woolsey ‘getting him off’, but surely that was better than what was coming, right?

“You have heard testimony from survivors of worlds where the Wraith have culled after they were prematurely wakened and began to decimate us in even greater numbers than before. We all know that the time of Sleep is crucial to our survival, as we rebuild our worlds and our populations.”

Rodney deliberately didn’t look at John.

“You’ve heard testimony from the survivors of worlds destroyed by these so-called Replicators, whose programming Dr. McKay admits he altered, resulting in the widespread destruction of populations on a scale never previously seen in this galaxy.”

Rodney sensed movement beside him and turned to see that Teyla had laid a restraining arm on John, who was sitting forward in his seat, muscle coiled as though he’d started to rise. His hands were clenched into fists.

_This is one you can’t fight your way out of, John_ , Rodney thought. As though John had heard him, he turned to face Rodney and Rodney saw the look of pain and anticipated loss plainly on his features before the Great Wall of Sheppard closed down and it away.

“We’ve heard from the survivors of Hoffa and Olesia, who have reported on the devastation that occurred in their societies after Dr. McKay and his people were there. There are some here,” Keegan paused to level a narrow eyed glance at John, “who would argue that Dr. McKay was not directly responsible for the events that transpired on those worlds, nor in the creation of the so-called retrovirus that was then used by the creature known as Michael to cause widespread devastation among this galaxy. There are some that would state that we are making an example of Dr. McKay because we _can_.” 

Keegan leaned forward on the bench, placing both hands on the wooden surface. “That is true. We are. We are making an example of Dr. McKay because we need to make a very clear statement to the people of Earth. This is _our_ galaxy. Our worlds. Our lives. We will not tolerate the blind interference of the people of the Atlantis expedition or the havoc they wreak by their blundering ways. You have heard the evidence. You have heard the witnesses. The time has come to render a judgment. A judgment that will be heard and recognized by every member of the Atlantis expedition as a warning to their further actions. The time has come to…” Keegan broke off suddenly at the sound of a commotion outside the room.

A guard at the door opened it at a knock and held a whispered conversation with someone, before hurrying up to Keegan. “Please, sir, there are people here who would like to speak on behalf of the defendant.”

“What?” Shiana, of the tribes of Santhal, rose to her feet, her voice shrill with anger. She’d been one of the people who’d testified to the destruction of her home world at the hands of the Replicators and her hostility towards Rodney had been palpable all during his trial. He’d demanded that she recuse herself from the trial on the grounds of conflict of interest, a request that hadn’t gone over well. “This is intolerable! This is merely an attempt to disrupt these proceedings and spirit this murderer away!”

“We got to hear your side of the story, I think it’s only fair you hear ours!” John was on his feet now, shouting back at the councilwoman.

“Enough!” Keegan’s voice rang out, just as someone else stood up and banged a huge gong behind him. The low thumming noise that echoed through the room silenced everyone. Rodney winced painfully.

“The prisoner has a right to a defense, however indefensible his actions may have been. The witnesses for the defense will be heard.” Keegan spoke firmly and sat back down, holding up a hand to Shiana when she would have protested some more.

_Gee, thanks for not biasing the crowd_ , Rodney thought and then looked with interest to see who could be coming through the doors that were now opening. Rodney was not the only one that was interested; heads turned and craned to get a better view as the guards pushed people back to make room for those entering the chambers.

“Well, I’ll be dipped in owlshit,” Rodney heard John say wonderingly and Rodney had to agree. Never in a million years would he have guessed who was coming to his defense. 

Ronon came stalking up to the bench, wearing the black suit and pin-striped pants that he’d acquired at the time of the funeral for John’s dad. His dreads were tied back off his face. He looked clean and neat and somehow ten times more dangerous than usual. Rodney was startled by the crowd of people that came in behind Ronon as well, recognizing faces here and there. He started to feel a little rush of hope after all, and when he turned to look at John and Teyla, Rodney caught Teyla smiling at him.

“Members of the Council,” Ronon said smoothly. “You know who I am. I am Specialist Ronon Dex. Survivor of Sateda. Wraithrunner for seven years. I come to you as a native of Pegasus and the advocate of Rodney McKay.”

Rodney wanted to cheer and Ronon hadn’t even done anything yet. The crowd began to murmur. Keegan tinkled the bell again, calling for silence. “Speak, Ronon Dex. Let us hear what you have to say.”

“You know that I have great cause to hate the Wraith.” The murmuring of the crowd acknowledged the truth of this and Keegan rang the bell again. Ronon continued. “I did things that I am not proud of in order to survive. I did things without thinking or without meaning to that put other people in danger. We’ve all been there. We all know what it is like to come up against the Wraith and have to make bad choices in order to protect ourselves and the ones that we love.”

An uneasy shuffle went through the crowd.

“You cannot begin to compare what you or anyone else may or may not have done to the great atrocities perpetrated by this man!” Shiana snarled, pointing a finger at Rodney, who flinched.

Ronon eyed her silently, until she lowered her hand. “Perhaps not. But I have not shown the measure of good this man has done either.”

One by one, Ronon introduced the people he’d brought with him. Each person had a story to tell, about how the team from Atlantis came to their world and changed their lives for the better. Keras smiled at Rodney before speaking to the council of how his people had to perform ritual suicide to prevent their numbers from outgrowing the protection of their shields, until Rodney had extended them. (Rodney thought the less anyone said about the birth control they’d provided as well for those young kids, the better) Somehow, Ronon had found a survivor of the prison camp on Olesia, who spoke of the terrible conditions and the deal the Olesians had struck with the Wraith in order to be left alone. People stepped forward to speak of technological improvements, scientific breakthroughs, aid rendered and received by the team from Atlantis and more specifically, by Dr. Rodney McKay.

The council members listened with various expressions, some bored, some interested, most frowning. Shiana practically quivered with rage but when she interrupted Ronon again, Keegan pointed out that it was the defense’s turn to make its case.

“Is that your last witness?” Keegan asked, when the final person in Ronon’s group had spoken.

“No.” Teyla rose gracefully to her feet and moved towards the bench. “I have words to say on Dr. McKay’s behalf.” 

Keegan nodded and indicated that she should speak. “I am the leader of the Athosians,” she began.

“The Athosians. This would be the same people turned into those abominations controlled by the Wraith known as Michael?” Shiana sneered. “Yes, _please_. Tell us how associating with the people of Atlantis was a wise decision on your behalf.”

Rodney winced as Teyla’s face took on that cool expression that indicated she was about to kick your ass. “When I first met the members of the Atlantis expedition, they’d never heard of the Wraith. Do you have any idea what a momentous discovery that was?”

The muttering in the crowed suggested that they did. “They had weapons and technology that we could only dream of, because they had not been battered into near extinction and then graciously allowed to rebuild our populations, only to be fed upon again. They had never experienced the culling cycles, they’d traveled further than most of us could imagine and they proved themselves to be courageous fighters and stout of heart when the Wraith attacked Athos that very evening.”

Teyla’s voice became passionate. “Never in my life have I ever met _anyone_ so willing to lay down their lives for people they had only just met, and for the other members of their group. Never have I met anyone who would say, ‘This is unacceptable’ and successfully mount a rescue mission to a Hive ship to recover their people. Never have a met a people so willing to take in refugees like the people of the Atlantis expedition. I knew at once that they were our best hope for defeating the Wraith once and for all. That they were our best hope for not merely surviving the Wraith, but for defeating them and learning to live again, to be able to raise our families without fear, to rebuild our societies, develop our cultures.”

“They have done none of those things! They have endangered us all! The lives that have been lost since they came to our galaxy number in the thousands. Your dreams are dust and ashes on hundreds of worlds. And this man, Rodney McKay, is responsible for more deaths than anyone among them!” Shiana railed at Teyla, rising out of her seat.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” John drawled, standing as well.

“No. No, no, no,” Rodney said rapidly. “Sit back down, Colonel. Teyla! Make him sit down.”

John ignored Rodney. “If it pleases the court, may I approach the bench?”

Something in John’s formal appeal must have satisfied Keegan, because he motioned John forward. Shiana sat down with a sneer.

“Members of the council, if you’re looking for someone to blame, I’m your man. I was the one who woke the Wraith.” John crossed his arms and tilted his head to one side, his whole body language saying ‘so what are you going to do about that?’ 

Rodney buried his face in his hands and then immediately peeked through his fingers. He couldn’t bear to watch but he had to know what was going on at the same time.

The crowd burst into an angry roar, threatening to surge forward and overwhelm John. Ronon and Teyla glared threateningly at them and stood at the ready to defend, if needed. John didn’t move at all, locking his gaze with Keegan. Rodney noted with sick despair that even some of Rodney’s ‘supporters’ looked shocked at John’s statement.

“This is not an ‘either or’ situation, Colonel,” Keegan said, after the gong had been used once more to quiet the room. “However, you do raise the question of whether charges should be filed against you next. I should mention that anything you say here at this time in Dr. McKay’s defense might be used against you later.”

John nodded, as though he expected this. “What Teyla said is right, we are from a world that’s never heard of the Wraith. And I know, that’s no excuse.” John raised a hand to forestall Shiana’s protest. “Look, we got in over our heads when we came here. We came as explorers and scientists and found ourselves at the bottom of the food chain. We made mistakes. Bad ones. But we kept trying. For every mistake we made, we tried our damnedest to make things better. Not just for ourselves, but for all of you. There were several times when people tried to make us leave, and abandon you to whatever the Wraith or the Replicators planned to dish out.”

John paused to take a deep breath. “I know,” he said quietly, “that thousands have died. I know that in trying to correct one terrible mistake, we created situations that were far worse.” His features tightened, and Rodney saw that Sheppard-resolve slide into place. “I also know that we didn’t settle for a return to the status quo. To live under the shadow of the Wraith or the Replicators was not to live at all. No one was safe as long as they were around.”

“Thousands have died that would have lived, had you and your people not so blindly meddled in that which you did not understand. If you had not killed the Keeper…” Keegan said, setting aside the appearance of impartiality.

“She was extracting information from my commanding officer. Information that put millions of lives on my home world at risk. I had no choice.”

“You could have killed the man she was interrogating.” Shiana’s voice was hard and cold. Several people in the room loudly echoed her sentiment.

“I did.” John’s words were quiet, and yet they silenced the murmuring crowd. Rodney was never more proud to be on Sheppard’s team then at that moment, as he stood, unflinching, in front of the court.

“And I faced charges for that act,” John continued. Rodney sucked in his breath sharply. He hadn’t known that.

“Which were dropped when my leaders learned what was at stake.” John hesitated, obviously struggling for his next words. “Let me tell you this: they wanted to pull out. They wanted to bring us home, to put their heads in the sand and pretend it wasn’t their problem. We convinced them that we had to stay and try to put things right. Because sooner or later, the Wraith would come to our world too.” 

“Touching.” Councilman Dimas broke in. “How very generous you’ve been with other’s lives.”

“The losses of the people of Pegasus aren’t acceptable to us. Don’t you _get_ ” John was having trouble controlling his anger and it showed. “Not acceptable. If our actions resulted in harm to others then it was up to us to correct that. No matter what the risk. You might point to McKay as the reason the Replicators killed thousands of people, but they were decimating the Wraith at the same time. A program that the Ancients themselves built into them. And as soon as we realized what that programming was making them do, McKay created the one solution that could permanently contain the Replicators. And we amassed a force and delivered that solution right down their throats. McKay is not the bad guy here. You might as well blame every member of the Atlantis expedition.”

“I agree,” Shiana snapped. “But we _have_ McKay!”

There was another commotion at the doors and then they were pushed open as another group of people pushed into the already overcrowded room. Rodney was stunned to see Radek at the forefront of what looked to be most of the scientists from Atlantis. He marched forward, coming to a halt beside John, Teyla and Ronon.

“If Dr. McKay is to blame, then we all are,” Radek said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose in a odd gesture of defiance and nervousness. Rodney felt his mouth drop open at the sight of his colleagues pouring into the room to stand with Radek. When Rodney saw Miko, her mouth in a grimly determined line, push up to the front of the crowd, his eyes began to sting with the bright burn of unshed tears. He swallowed hard. 

“Fine!” Shiana roared, reaching for the bell to ring it and close down the proceedings. “Arrest them all!”

Keegan snatched the bell out of her reach, frowning at her. He said something, but his voice was lost in the roar of the crowd.

“Radek, no!” Rodney yelled over the noise. One of the council members hurried over to the gong but Rodney took a deep breath and bellowed, “Shut up!”

Miraculously, the crowd obeyed.

“Now, you people listen to me,” Rodney raged, feeling a fierce joy in being unmuzzled at last. “If you want to make an example of me, then _fine_. Go ahead. It will be senseless and stupid and wasteful on your parts and it might even give you a moment’s satisfaction but it will do nothing to repair the gaping black hole of loss in your hearts. Your people will still be gone and nothing will ever bring them back.” 

He brought his hands up to gesture, moving them as a pair, the chains clanking as he did so. “But if you add these people to your list of those to punish, then you will deserve whatever fate comes your way because these are some of the smartest, courageous and _decent_ people that I’ve ever had the honor of working with. If you are really seeking an alliance with each other to defeat what’s left of the Wraith, are you really going to throw all that talent away? People who know how to grow better crops and practice better medicine. Who can teach you how to make superior weapons and take your people into outer space _without_ relying on the Gate system. People who are committed to making things better for everyone in Pegasus.” Rodney paused for air and continued. “Yes, we’re clumsy and blind and occasionally stupid. But we’re also brilliant and inspired and determined. And we really are on your side.”

Silence descended upon the room when Rodney had finished speaking, save for the sound of a stifled cough. Somewhere outside, a baby could be heard crying.

Keegan opened his mouth to speak, but a guard stepped out from the side entrance to the room and leaned in to whisper in Keegan’s ear. Startled, he shot a sharp glance at the guard and then sighed. “There is someone that wishes to address the court. They will be heard on speaker.” He leaned forward and pressed a button on the bench in front of him. “I am Councilman Keegan. You wish to speak on behalf of Rodney McKay?”

“Yes, I do.” The familiar voice wrapped itself around Rodney’s heart and gave a little squeeze.

“ _Elizabeth_?” Rodney said incredulously. John whipped his head towards the radio speaker. Rodney noted the team of scientists shifted and exchanged looks with each other. 

“Not now, Rodney.” Elizabeth’s voice contained a smile until she spoke again. “I am one of the people known as the Replicators. I am the essence of Elizabeth Weir, the former expedition leader of Atlantis. I was created by the Replicators in order to defeat the people of Atlantis.”

The crowd panicked; people began to scream. The gong was banged several times in rapid succession, causing Rodney’s teeth to ache. When the crowd was contained once more, Elizabeth continued to speak. “How I came to be here now is not of importance.”

Rodney could see from the look on John’s face that he begged to differ, but he remained silent, exchanging a glance with Rodney, who shrugged. The last time they’d seen Repli-Elizabeth, they’d sent her through a wormhole into space, to be frozen for all time. Or not, as the case seemed to be.

“What is important is that my primary purpose for existing failed. The Replicators created me and copies of the other expedition members in hopes of learning how we thought and how to destroy us. It failed because when they created us, they instilled in us everything that our Originals thought and believed as well. And we refused to allow the Replicators to control us or destroy Atlantis. We worked together and we beat them at their own game, because that’s who we _were_.”

“This abomination should not be allowed to be heard at this court!” Shiana shrieked, her face turning red.

“Shiana of Santhal,” Elizabeth said gently. “We are sorry for your loss. It was the actions of our people that led us to remove ourselves from them. Yes, Dr. McKay reactivated the programming that the Wraith had shut off. The programming merely stated a blank directive to destroy the Wraith. The Ancients had thought no further than that. It was the Replicator leaders that decided the best way to do this would be to deprive them of their food. No one could have foreseen this.”

“Shut up! Shut up!” Shiana cried out. Her face boiled over with emotion; she looked as though she might burst into tears of rage at any moment.

“Very well. But you should ask yourself this. Are you sure you have the right McKay?”

“What?” Rodney spluttered.

“Back on my world, we have such a thing as reasonable doubt,” Rodney heard his own voice, full of smirk, over the radio. Did he really sound like that? He didn’t think so. But there was no denying that everyone in the room thought it sounded like him.

“So before you convict the guy, you might want to ask yourselves if you’re making the right decision.” The drawling voice that chimed in on the radio next made Rodney stare at John to see if he’d spoken. John just raised an eyebrow at him. “You might want to remember too, that Replicators are a lot like weeds. Hard to kill. Frequently grow back.”

“Is that a threat?” Keegan said slowly.

“Take it anyway you want it.” Repli-John said, the shrug evident in his voice. “Ooops. Gotta go. See you guys around. Sheppard out.”

“Okay, now that’s just weird and creepy,” John said to no one in particular.

“Court is adjourned for two hours.” Keegan rang the bell and stood up to leave, before anyone could protest.

****

“You know, I’d be hard pressed to say which was my favorite Hallmark moment of the day.” Rodney was full of good humor, fried tormack, and that rich, golden Athosian ale that they only just started brewing on their new home world. Would that make it New New Athos? 

“I’m just glad they released you in the end, buddy.” John was walking him back to his quarters, all loose-limbed and loungey again. All was right in Rodney’s world when John was relaxed to the point of bonelessness. 

“Well, they hardly had a choice. The Replicators certainly raised the question of reasonable doubt and everyone else had called into question half the charges, so it was starting to look like a bit of a witch hunt.”

“It took balls for Woolsey to show up and extend diplomatic relations in exchange for them dropping the charges.”

Rodney sniffed. “Maybe. But I can’t see where he had a choice. If he hadn’t stepped in like that, no one would ever be safe off-world again.”

“You just can’t admit Woolsey might be an okay sort of guy, even if he plays political hardball too well.” John shot a little half-smile in his direction, bumping shoulders with Rodney.

“I hate politics,” Rodney muttered. The shoulder bump was nice, though. So was seeing his science team stand up for him. “Did you see the way Radek came blustering in? I thought he was going to shake out of his shoes.”

“I thought Miko was going to hurt someone,” John grinned.

“And Ronon!” Rodney added. “Oh, my god, did you see the way he ruled the room, like some bad-ass Perry Mason?” Rodney smiled at the memory.

“I think we’re letting him watch too much television,” John said seriously. “I worry about the boy. Maybe we should set limits. We don’t want him becoming too aggressive, you know.”

Rodney shot John an incredulous look and they both burst out laughing.

They stepped into the transporter, the doors quickly shutting behind them. John put a hand on the controls and almost instantaneously, they were on the correct level.

Rodney sobered as they stepped into the corridor, the dimmer lighting here suggesting the hour was very late. He felt overwhelmingly weary all of the sudden. “We’ve made some horrible mistakes here,” he said quietly.

“We’ve done some good too, Rodney,” John said. “Don’t forget that. If you forget that, the other stuff can eat you up.”

Rodney cut a glance over at John. He remembered how exhausted and defeated John had looked that morning. “Do you let it eat you up?” It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if that was why John was always in such a hurry to throw himself on a sacrificial alter of some kind, but he stopped himself just in time.

They’d arrived at Rodney’s door. John turned to face him, leaning one shoulder into the wall as though he couldn’t stand up any other way. “I’ve been a soldier half my life, Rodney. When I signed up for the job, it meant that sometimes I was going to get ordered to do things I didn’t necessary agree with. Or that I thought would have disastrous consequences. So, I learned to remind myself that, at those times, it wasn’t about the job or the orders. It was about the people I was with. My friends. My…” he broke off, looking down at the ground briefly. “It’s about the people, McKay. I’m going to fight with every thing I’ve got for them.”

“You disobey orders when it comes into conflict with the people,” Rodney said, suddenly getting it.

John gave him a thin version of the half-smile.

“You were willing to give yourself to the council in exchange for me.” The enormity of that was nearly overwhelming.

“Yeah, and look where it almost got us. Both on trial.” John grinned and pushed off the wall. “Glad they changed their minds in the end. Goodnight, Rodney.”

Rodney reached out and snagged John’s arm as he turned to leave. John looked down at Rodney’s grip with a frown before making eye contact again. 

“I couldn’t let you do that.” Rodney took a deep breath before plunging on rapidly. “You’re part of my family, you know.”

John shot him a shy, incredulous grin, the one that engaged his entire face and made him look dorky instead of delectable. Rodney couldn’t help it; he crushed John in a hug.

He felt John freeze up for just an instant, but by the time Rodney registered the reaction with amusement, John was thawing into his embrace and hugging him back. Rodney lifted his head to grin at John, only to have John lean forward and hungrily kiss him.

It was Rodney’s turn to freeze. He felt John start to backpedal and Rodney thought, ‘ _Oh, no, none of that_ ,’ as he opened his mouth and took John in, demanding more with his hands and body and something that was definitely _not_ a needy little whine. 

“Oh, god,” Rodney said when they came up for air, John’s lips even fuller than normal and red from the kissing. “If we’re family, does that make this incest? You know what? I don’t care.”

He hit the controls to his room with one hand and dragged John across the threshold with the other, his fingers clutching a fistful of John’s shirt.

“This,” Rodney said, moving into John’s arms as the door shut behind them. “This is the best Hallmark-moment-of-the-day.”

“The day’s not over yet, McKay,” John said with a smirk.

~fin~


End file.
